Janice is having transference reactions towards her therapist, due to being challenged about seating arrangements at her brother’s wedding. After being challenged, Janice cancelled her therapy appointment and rescheduled for later that week. When she showed for therapy, it was noticed the way Janice sat with her arms crossed and avoided making eye contact with the therapist. It was also mentioned that Janice sighed a couple of times during the therapy, as though she was annoyed. Janice also left home when she was 18 years-old to live with a friend because of discord, which may relate to the rescheduling of her appointment. When things get tough, Janice may seek ways to free herself from those situations. Janice also made mention of the therapist’s …show more content…
Therefore, the transference may be utilized to adjust Janice’s behaviors and possibly resolve the concerns she is experiencing with her step-mother. As the therapist, the issue is not centered around me. It is the evidence of the repeated pattern in Janice’s relationship with her step-mother that she is describing (King & O’Brien, 2011). What are the possible interpretations of the client’s transference reaction? A possible interpretation for Janice’s transference reaction is she may feel reluctant to trust her therapist. After her therapist challenged her in regards to her brother’s wedding and the seating arrangements, she may feel that her therapist is taking the side of her step-mother. How would you respond to the client’s reactions to further the therapeutic work and protect the therapeutic relationship? As the therapist, I would respond to Janice by stating, “You and I have been discussing some pretty tough concerns. During our last three sessions, you reported experiencing anger due to your father marrying your step-mother, who is much younger than him. During our last session, I challenged you on your brother’s wedding seating arrangements, and I noticed you canceled our following appointment. I was wondering if you rescheduling your appointment was related to an emotion you may have felt when I inquired about whose decision it was to arrange where the family would sit during the wedding. What are your
...the patient’s feeling it and knowing it.” In other words, the therapist must attend to both the client’s core affective experience and what makes that experience frightening or painful. This stance is informed by the affective phenomena of empathy, affect contagion, affective attunement and resonance, and the reaching of a coordinated affective state. Ultimately, the therapist’s affective response to the client’s experience serves to amplify the client’s affective state. The therapist must come alongside the client, allowing the client to feel deeply understood and as though someone is offering to help. The client no longer feels an unwanted experience of aloneness and the anxiety that accompanies it. This stance effectively eliminates resistance on the client’s part, and the patient finds him or her self naturally wanting to share even the hidden parts of the self.
Based on the extent of Maggie’s mental health condition, it would be necessary to implement the Psychodynamic Frame of Reference. This Frame of Reference is appropriate due to Maggie’s diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and her previous history with generalized anxiety disorder. According to Cole and Tufano (2008), the Psychodynamic Frame of Reference is beneficial to clients who are wanting to improve in their social participation and relationships, emotional expression, and motivation for engagement, self-awareness, defense mechanisms, and projective mechanisms (p. 255-256). These are all factors which will assist Maggie in improving her mental health status. Having Maggie advance these factors in her life will enable her to participate in more activities, which may in turn improve her depressive symptoms. It is important for Maggie to continue participation in the activities she enjoys in order for her mental health to improve. While the Psychodynamic Frame of Reference is beneficial to Maggie, it is important for a therapist to follow a model as well to lead Maggie to gaining the largest
On the other hand, due to Sarah experiencing high levels of anxiety and telling the counselor that the therapy is not working could belittle the counselor such as saying “you went to school or this?”, “You do a horrible job!”, or “Since you stink at your job, I’m going to go to someone else.”. Indeed, these negative remarks/comments can make the therapist feel like a failure. Based on Sarah’s displacement defense mechanism, she is in the anal stage. This stage is when the individual is unable to notice their actions and portrays anger towards outside sources. Why Sarah is in the anal stage is because she is upset that the therapy is not working and expressing anger at therapy (Corey, 2016, p. 63). If Sarah was to continue the displacement
...rk out from their facial expressions and body language how they may be feeling then adjust my approach accordingly. I like to make my appearance to be well presented, I feel this makes me easier to be approached by clients if I have a welcoming and open body language for them to talk to me when working in practice. Firstly I assess the situation the client and myself are in. for example if the client had come to the practice for the euthanasia of there beloved pet, my communication would be much different if it was a client to be bringing their new puppy. I would use a kind and caring tone and ask the clients needs to try and make them feel in control of the situation. I would then reassure them that it is a kind decision and make fuss of their animal. This has worked for me in previous situations I have dealt with and have had positive feed back.
For example, in the Casebook, the therapist is not exploring why Ruth left her church or why she does not have a great relationship with her parents but he wants her to explore her future and her present. Exploring how it is this going to affect her marriage and her relationship with her children. In addition, exploring how she is dealing with this situation at hand. If the therapist were to use psychotherapy then he would address Ruth’s childhood experiences. Rogers’ thought it was unnecessary to explore the unconsciousness unlike Freud. If Wilma wanted to explore her past, I would be open to it but would not press the matter. Alternative, I would praise Wilma for living and empathize for her struggle for the last 18 years. As her counselor I might say, “Wilma it must be a struggle every day and I cannot imagine what you have gone through but every day you go through your day you make me feel like you are one step closer to helping yourself”. A follow-up comment I might say, “Wilma you show great strength in yourself by going on with life
The second stage in the psychodynamic therapy process is, the transference stage. In this stage the development of treatment is set and now it is the patient’s time to let their feelings out. The patient expresses those feelings, emotions, fears, and desires to the therapist without having to worry about censorship. The feelings and behavior of the patient become more pronounced and become a vital part of the treatment itself. During this stage the therapist could experience and better understand of the patient’s past and how it impacted their behavior in the
The video with Object Relation Theory was written /presented by Jill Scharff but hosted by Jon Carlson and Diane Kjos. Dr. Scharff spoke about the Object Relations Theory approach. She indicated that an object relations approach abstain a blank slate and forms the primary client/counselor relationship (Psychotherapy.net, 2008). Dr. Scharff indicated, “The psychotherapist creates a holding environment for unconscious material to emerge and childhood wounds to be worked through—a process that’s mystifying and out of reach to many of us” (Psychotherapy.net, 2008). She demonstrated this process in her session as: “she follows her client’s lead, she remains neutral yet connected, looks for the subtle affect and patterns of speech that signal underlying conflict, and ultimately encourages her client’s deeper issues of guilt towards his mother to surface and be addressed” (Psychotherapy.net, 2008). In addition, this theory conceals that human’s need for contact with other and forming relationships.
He appears less depressed than two weeks ago. Denies SI intent or plan. He continues to accept extra responsibility from the church and is glad to have the extra income. He knows this is only temporarily until the assigned priest of this particular church returns. The session continues to focus on helping patient accept his medical condition and create reasonable and realistic goals. He has mentioned a few times how he knows that he needs adjust his expectations and be more realistic about his goals. Writer assists him in this re-evaluation and uses reframing as much as
She believes she is loosing herself and needs a new change. She continues to work through her problems with the counselor (Therapeutic Journeys, Exploring Choice, 2001).
I have based my approach on the data that was presented to me through intake forms and viewing prior sessions with the couple. To protect the couple from any negative counter-transference, I filtered my observations through the theories of Gottman’s Married Couple Therapy (2008), Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy (2008) (EFT), and David’s Integrated Model of Couple Therapy (2013a) (ICT). The bulk of this paper will then examine my therapeutic approach, the supporting theoretical concepts, and my strengths and weaknesses as a therapist during the session. The latter will include peer feedback, instructor feedback, and self-critique. This paper will conclude with a brief discussion of the future direction of therapy were I to remain their therapist.
Step seven asks the therapist to facilitate the expression of needs and wants and create emotional engagement and bonding events that redefine the attachment between partners. This step is when the change process of blamer-softening usually occurs (Johnson, 2004). The previously withdrawn partner has shared attachment needs in steps five and six and the more blaming partner is able to reach for the previously withdrawn partner. Statements for the withdrawn partner shift from “I feel numb and run away” to “I want to feel special to you” (Johnson et al., 2005). Hearing the withdrawn partner engaging from a vulnerable place elicits the blamer softening event to occur. Depending on the level of distress between the couple, multiple softening events may need to occur to start the bonding process (Johnson et al., 2005). As the couple has established a more secure bond, the therapist is now ready to move onto the final stage of EFT, consolidation (Furrow & Johnson,
However, later on in the treatment process, when a therapist begins to use more confrontational interventions, the client may come to realize that this “good” therapist is not there only to make them feel good. The therapist may also refuse to give advice on demand or reciprocate self-disclosures leaving the client feeling less and less in control. This could result in generalized negative transference. As the pendulum swings in the opposite direction, the client will theoretically then experience the therapist as the prototype of the early “bad”
Transference and counter transference is one of most important aspects of treatment between patient and practitioner. In a clinical setting we do not always have the opportunity to have consecutive treatments with the same patient and as a result may not be able to acknowledge or notice these occurrences. It is not often that I have the opportunity to see a patient on a regular basis or even twice for that matter. As a result, it is not possible for me to notice or recognize any transference that the patient my have towards me. At times however, I clearly know the impose counter-transference & boundaries issues which patient and I experience.
Transference, defined as “the inappropriate repetition in the present of a relationship that was important in a person's childhood,” is indicated in the client’s therapy in session client-3 when the client commented to the therapist not to go on vacation because she needs him to be there for her. This is an example of transference because the client is transferring her own feelings about how she felt when her father left her. These unexpressed feelings during her childhood are manifesting as transference to the therapist’s discussion about his vacation.
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.